What does the Chinese disinfo post say exactly about Kenny Chiu?

The post will surely to go down in history as a crucial document.

China’s interference in Canada’s elections has been a boiling topic in the media over the past week, and one of the most prominent pieces of evidence of China’s interference is its disinformation campaigns against Kenny Chiu 赵锦荣, the then-Conservative candidate for Steveston—Richmond East during the 2021 election.

As reported by the Globe and Mail, Global News, National Post and other media outlets, the Chinese government launched an orchestrated smear campaign in 2021 on Chinese-language media in Canada, distorting the content of a bill Chiu had put forth in the house to start a foreign agents’ registry. The campaign labelled Chiu, his bill and his party's actions as ‘anti-Chinese racism’.

The campaign was quite effective: the ‘anti-China’ candidate Kenny Chiu lost his seat; the ‘anti-China’ Conservative party lost a few seats, and the China-friendly Liberals won the election with a China-favoured minority government. The strategy and techniques of China’s disinformation campaign have been well-researched and analyzed by communications and policy experts, including the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, the School of Information Studies at McGill University, and the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab. 

Among these analyses, a WeChat post smearing Kenny Chiu was repeatedly mentioned, as a core element of the campaign. But what exactly does that post say? Some non-Chinese-speaking readers raised this question to Found in Translation. 

Here we are posting the English translation of that WeChat post (translated by DeepL Translator with minor edits), as well as its original Chinese version. Found in Translation believes this post will go down as a very important document.    

Original post link:  
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/lcqHmgXAycAf5beFZpoPuQ

Archived link: https://web.archive.org/web/20211102162354/https:/mp.weixin.qq.com/s/lcqHmgXAycAf5beFZpoPuQ 

Website link:
https://www.todaycommercialnews.com/canada/49207#

Headline: Please spread the word! Conservative MP Chiu proposes "Foreign interference registration" bill to suppress Chinese community 请广传！保守党国会议员赵锦荣提「外国势力註册」法案打压华人社区

Author: N/A

Publication date: September 9, 2021

Platform: the WeChat channel “Today Commercial News 加拿大商报”

Content:

[2021-09-09]

Kenny Chiu, the Conservative MP in British Columbia, introduced a private bill in the (Canadian) parliament, Bill C-282, known as the Foreign Interference Registry  The bill passed its first reading before Parliament was dissolved. According to the legislative process of the third reading in Parliament, the Foreign Interference Registry Act may become law in Canada if Kenny Chiu is re-elected in the general election.

Why must Canadians of Chinese descent pay attention to this bill?

The reason is simple: once this bill becomes law, all individuals or groups with ties to China may be considered spokespersons for the Chinese government and be required to register specifically.

What's wrong with getting registered? After registration, there is a chance that activities related to the Chinese community and normal Sino-Canada economic, cultural, and technological exchanges will be suppressed, and the freedom of expression of Chinese people will be curtailed.

If you still don't understand (the seriousness), just take a look at the following bill, and you'll have an idea. 

The Foreign Influence Registry, introduced by Canadian Conservative MP Kenny Chiu, would require any person, company or organization, other than an official representative of a foreign government, that is controlled or influenced by an individual foreign government or political organization to register with the Canadian Department of Justice. These individuals and organizations must also register with the government if they wish to communicate with members of Parliament and public officials. Registration requires the name of the individual or the foreign power they represent, and any financial dealings with the foreign power. Failure to register or inaccurate information will result in a fine of up to C$200,000 and two years in prison. (Link to bill content https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42/bill/C-282/first-reading)

The private member's bill proposed by Kenny Chiu only requires individuals and groups with ties to individual "hostile countries" to register, but the bill does not list which ones are "hostile countries", but Kenny Chiu has always been "anti-China" and it is clear that at a time when Sino-Canadian relations are at an all-time low, he proposed this bill, which is a bill targeting mainland Chinese groups and individuals in Canada. The purpose of the bill is to curb any pro-Chinese speech in Canada and to control and monitor mainland groups and individuals.

The bill defines any person or group of persons under the control or influence of a foreign government agency as an agent of the foreign government.

According to this definition, individuals or groups that have been influenced by the Chinese government are considered to be agents of the Chinese government, including those who have established or conducted activities of their hometown association; those who have received congratulatory letters from their home governments to establish or conduct activities of their alumni association; those who have attended events at Chinese consulates such as National Day receptions and Chinese New Year celebrations; those who have invited consular officials to attend their events; and those who have been associated with Chinese officials at any level; even individuals who have worked for Chinese institutions, including government and state-owned enterprises; groups that have been sponsored by Chinese private companies, etc.

What is the background of Kenny Chiu’s anti-China activities? He was born in Hong Kong, immigrated to Canada in the 1980s, joined the Conservative Party of Canada, and was elected to Parliament in 2019 for the riding of Steveston-Richmond East in British Columbia.

After he was elected, he was invited to Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Anti-China Movement as a Canadian MP to monitor the district council elections on behalf of the international community. As a result, in 2021, Kenny Chiu was placed on China's sanctions list, which prohibits him from entering Chinese territory.

If you care about the well-being of the Chinese Canadian community, please spread this message so that more people know about this matter that affects your personal interest!

The original Chinese version:

请广传！保守党国会议员赵锦荣提「外国势力註册」法案打压华人社区

[2021-09-09] 

卑诗省的加拿大邦保守党 (Conservative Party)国会议员赵锦荣 (Kenny Chiu) ，早前在国会提出私人立法提案BILLC-282，即是「外国势力註册法」(Foreign Interference Registry)。此法案在国会解散之前，已经通过一读，按照国会叁读的立法程序，一旦赵锦荣在大选中胜出连任， 「外国势力註册法」有可能成为加拿大的法律。

为甚麽华裔的加拿大人，必须关註这个法案呢？

原因很简单，因为一旦此法案成为法律， 所有与中国有联繫的个人或者团体，都有可能被认为是中国政府代言人而被要求专门登记。

登记又如何？登记之後，跟中国大陆社团有关的活动，以及正常的中加经济文化科技等交流都会有机会受打压，华裔的言论自由，亦有很大机会被遏制，对华社产生深远的负面影响，亦是很可能发生的事情。

如果大家仍然不明白，就看看以下的法案简介，看完就会一清二楚。

加拿大保守党国会议员赵锦荣提出的「外国势力註册法」法案，要求除外国政府官方代表之外， 任何受个别外国政府或政治组织控制和影响的个人， 公司或者组织， 必须在加拿大司法部登记。如果这些个人和组织要和国会议员及公职人员进行交流， 也必须在政府登记。登记的内容要求个人或所代表的外国势力的名称， 与外国势力的任何金钱往来。没有登记或者信息不準确将会罚最高二十万罚款和两年有期徒刑。(法案内容连结 https://wwwparl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42/bill/C-282/first-reading)

赵锦荣提出的私人法案，只是要求和个别「敌对国家」有联繫的个人和团体进行登记， 但法案未有列出哪些是「敌对国家」，但是赵锦荣一向是「反华」，很明显地，在中加关係正处在历史最低点的时刻，他提出了此法案，就是一个针对加拿大国内大陆华人团体和个人的法案， 目的在遏制加拿大国内的任何亲中国言论， 控制和监视各大陆团体和个人。

法案规定任何受到外国政府机构控制和影响的个人和团体都是外国政府委托人。

按照这个定义， 有以下行为的个人或团体，都会将会被认为是受到中国政府的影响，而被定为中国政府的委托人，包括了同乡会成立或者开展活动；原居地政府如有送来贺信校友会成立或者开展活动；出席过中国领事馆例如国庆招待会及春节庆祝等的团体和个人；邀请过领事馆官员出席活动的团体，以及与任何一级中国官员有联繫的团体或者个人；甚至是任职过国内机构包括政府和国企的个人；接受过中国私人企业讚助团体等等。

说到赵锦荣反华，他的背景又是甚麽呢？他生於香港，於上世纪80年代移民加拿大， 然後加入加拿大保守党， 於2019年在卑诗省 Steveston-Richmond East 选区当选国会议员。

赵锦荣当选之後，以加拿大议员身份受香港反送中运动邀请前往香港代表国际社会监督区议会选举， 其後在国会中多次抨击中国和香港当局， 并担任国会的国际人权小组委员会副主席， 投票支持谴责中国的新疆维吾尔议案， 并要求制裁中国和香港政府官员， 结果在2021年赵锦荣被中国列入反制裁名单， 禁止他进入中国领土。

若大家关心华社的福祉，请广传这个讯息，令更多人知道这件对个人有切身关係的事！！！